Unauthorised R99 debit orders
<p>A colleague mentioned the existence of R99 debit orders that are unauthorized. when i checked my account i noticed that 4 of these had gone off my account. i called sb what matters and told only one could be reversed the next day as it was not reflecting yet. the other 3 required me to go into a branch. at the branch i was told (clearwater) i would be charged R108 to reverse (so i heard), and i opted for tge reversal, only to be told, i actually meant R180. as i was contemplating, the next cashier leans over and says its actually R220 that i will be charged to reverse a R99 debit order more than 2 months old. at this point i opted not to go ahead. the problem i have with standard bank is that i was never notified about these debit orders, secondly , after reversing the one, surely its no rocket science that the others must be reversed. its THEFT. being a prestige customer i expected more. i have now been advised elsewhere that the only way my account will be safe is if i close the account and open another one. not that it matters to standard bank, but i might have to move the account to fnb as they can reverse these debit orders via an app. for now i just need to recover my money for the other 3 debit orders </p>
Dear Customer
Thank you for posting the message and allowing us the opportunity to look into the matter.
We will be in contact with you shortly.
Thanks,
Complaint Resolution Centre
***
Dear Customer
Thank you for posting the message and allowing us the opportunity to look into the matter.
We will be in contact with you shortly.
Thanks,
Complaint Resolution Centre
***
Dear Frank Nyamusamba
Thank you for your posting.
I refer to my email correspondence and can confirm that the matter has been attended to.
Kind regards
Clint Petersen
Complaint Resolution Centre
***
Dear Frank Nyamusamba
Thank you for your posting.
I refer to my email correspondence and can confirm that the matter has been attended to.
Kind regards
Clint Petersen
Complaint Resolution Centre
***
your email does not mention that i will get my money back. that barely is 'attending to'. the rules u send me say that the bank will ask the company to provide proof that the debit orders are authorized. that is not what your branch says. your branch says i have to pay you R220 to reverse a R99 debit order. and that is my problem. i was not notified about these debit orders via sms and thus could not dispute before the 40 days that you mention. to me you are just supporting these *******
your email does not mention that i will get my money back. that barely is 'attending to'. the rules u send me say that the bank will ask the company to provide proof that the debit orders are authorized. that is not what your branch says. your branch says i have to pay you R220 to reverse a R99 debit order. and that is my problem. i was not notified about these debit orders via sms and thus could not dispute before the 40 days that you mention. to me you are just supporting these *******
for the record, here is your response
I refer to your complaint you logged on the Hellopeter website and would like to apologise for the delay in responding to this matter.
The workings of a debit order have been fully described in the attached bulletin from The Ombudsman for Banking Services. From this bulletin you will note that the account holder who's account is being debited is in fact protected against unauthorised withdrawals by users of the debit order system in South Africa.
Any party that wishes to raise debit entries through the debit order system must at the outset apply to that company's bankers for authority to do so. Their sponsoring bank will satisfy themselves that the applicant is a "fit and proper" party to be allowed to use the debit order system. SA Banks have agreed on minimum requirements on granting authority to applicants. The approved user undertakes to its sponsoring bank that it will hold a valid instruction from all account holders, no matter which bank the specific account is conducted at, to debit their bank accounts with the agreed sum of money.
The paying banker's verification of this mandate will take place only on an exception basis and this generally occurs when an account holder disputes an entry on his bank statement. Where the transaction has taken place within 40 days of the action date, the bank will summarily reverse such entry and refund the account holder. Any disputed entries that are older than 40 days are brought to the attention of the originating party who must either produce a valid instruction from the account holder authorising such debit, or has to refund the disputed amount.
The sponsoring bank enforces these terms and conditions and also acts as guarantor of last resort in the event of the refunds not being made. Where an account holder does not bring disputed entries to the notice of his bankers, it is assumed that he / she is satisfied that they are legitimate. We must point out that all banks expect their customers to scrutinise their bank statements from time to time, as a failure to do so may result in the tacit acceptance by the bank regarding the correctness of such statements.
There are item limits which are put in place by arrangement with the sponsoring bank that ensures that transactions exceeding this threshold do not enter the bank's systems. The value of transactions that may be generated through the banking system by various users is also managed by an overall aggregate limit that ensures that unauthorised high value transactions are excluded.
We trust that the above background information provides you with some level of comfort, as the Standard Bank (and SA banks generally) have implemented controls to mitigate any potential risk for users of the debit order system in SA. The debit order system fulfils a practical solution to business needs and has proven to successfully serve majority of all users (approved users as well as account holders). When the debit order goes through your account, you can call our call centre on ***and speak to a consultant to put through a dispute for you.
The bank can load stop payments to the debit orders, but this is not guaranteed because if any detail changes on the description of the transaction whether it is the reference number or amount than the debit order will go through. The bank can also provide you with the details of the company debiting your account in order for the customer to take this up directly with the company.
In light of the above I am terribly sorry to confirm that the bank does not have control over debit orders as the bank is but only the payment mechanism for the transaction.
I trust this response resolves your immediate concerns.
Kind regards
for the record, here is your response
I refer to your complaint you logged on the Hellopeter website and would like to apologise for the delay in responding to this matter.
The workings of a debit order have been fully described in the attached bulletin from The Ombudsman for Banking Services. From this bulletin you will note that the account holder who's account is being debited is in fact protected against unauthorised withdrawals by users of the debit order system in South Africa.
Any party that wishes to raise debit entries through the debit order system must at the outset apply to that company's bankers for authority to do so. Their sponsoring bank will satisfy themselves that the applicant is a "fit and proper" party to be allowed to use the debit order system. SA Banks have agreed on minimum requirements on granting authority to applicants. The approved user undertakes to its sponsoring bank that it will hold a valid instruction from all account holders, no matter which bank the specific account is conducted at, to debit their bank accounts with the agreed sum of money.
The paying banker's verification of this mandate will take place only on an exception basis and this generally occurs when an account holder disputes an entry on his bank statement. Where the transaction has taken place within 40 days of the action date, the bank will summarily reverse such entry and refund the account holder. Any disputed entries that are older than 40 days are brought to the attention of the originating party who must either produce a valid instruction from the account holder authorising such debit, or has to refund the disputed amount.
The sponsoring bank enforces these terms and conditions and also acts as guarantor of last resort in the event of the refunds not being made. Where an account holder does not bring disputed entries to the notice of his bankers, it is assumed that he / she is satisfied that they are legitimate. We must point out that all banks expect their customers to scrutinise their bank statements from time to time, as a failure to do so may result in the tacit acceptance by the bank regarding the correctness of such statements.
There are item limits which are put in place by arrangement with the sponsoring bank that ensures that transactions exceeding this threshold do not enter the bank's systems. The value of transactions that may be generated through the banking system by various users is also managed by an overall aggregate limit that ensures that unauthorised high value transactions are excluded.
We trust that the above background information provides you with some level of comfort, as the Standard Bank (and SA banks generally) have implemented controls to mitigate any potential risk for users of the debit order system in SA. The debit order system fulfils a practical solution to business needs and has proven to successfully serve majority of all users (approved users as well as account holders). When the debit order goes through your account, you can call our call centre on ***and speak to a consultant to put through a dispute for you.
The bank can load stop payments to the debit orders, but this is not guaranteed because if any detail changes on the description of the transaction whether it is the reference number or amount than the debit order will go through. The bank can also provide you with the details of the company debiting your account in order for the customer to take this up directly with the company.
In light of the above I am terribly sorry to confirm that the bank does not have control over debit orders as the bank is but only the payment mechanism for the transaction.
I trust this response resolves your immediate concerns.
Kind regards